Talks aimed at averting a 24-hour strike by London Underground workers from Sunday evening will be held on Saturday, the TSSA union said.

Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union are due to walk out for 24 hours from 6pm on Sunday, causing travel chaos for millions of passengers.

Talks over staffing and ticket office closures collapsed today but the TSSA announced that another meeting will be held at the conciliation service Acas tomorrow.

TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: 'We are extremely disappointed not to have a solution to the dispute this evening but we have just been asked to return to talks with LU under the auspices of Acas in the morning.

'We will be attending and look forward to hearing what they are offering.'

The way of industrial unrest has spread to the London Underground after months of walk-outs on the busy Southern Rail routes.

Train workers in the north are poised to join the winter of discontent next week when the RMT ballots staff on Northern Rail.

RMT leader Mick Cash (file picture) tonight confirmed a Tube strike would go ahead, soon after he announced a ballot for more industrial action on Northern Rail

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling pleaded today he did not have the power to order an end to strikes.

But the wave of industrial action will raise demands from commuters for the Government to be handed new powers to keep transport networks moving.

The RMT tonight confirmed its Tube strike would go ahead following the collapse of talks at conciliation service ACAS today.

General secretary Mick Cash said: 'Despite huge efforts by the union negotiating team, London Underground have failed to come up with any serious plans to tackle the staffing and safety crisis caused by the axing of nearly 900 safety-critical station jobs.

'Instead of resolving the issues, Tube bosses have chosen instead to ramp up the rhetoric with threats to mobilise a strike-breaking army of 'ambassadors' with severe consequences for the current safety regime across the Tube network.